Clean coal, green coal, better coal

by Matthias Möbius

Clean coal, green coal, better coal

Image by Nelly Tokmagasheva

The ingenuity of coal mining companies is limitless. This is one of the lessons I obtained from going through annual reports of dozens of coal miners and coal utilities worldwide. Gigantic coal mines embedded in picturesque and green landscapes seam the first pages of these reports; images that suggest a harmonic hand in hand of the fragile ecosystems and the mines that seem like black abysses soon to be swallowed by the green that stands guard at their gates. These images taken in countries like Indonesia, the USA or Colombia who are among the biggest coal producers in the world are reinforced with flowery self-descriptions of extracting companies like the “leader in green coal”, “responsible producer of clean coal” or by their participation in the “bettercoal initiative”.

Bettercoal? Not at all! After reading these annual reports which are the only detailed source of information coming from the companies themselves, one wants to start buying massive amounts of coal to support this sustainable and responsible line of business. However, there is a second plotline to this story, one that is not often being told. It is a story that is not easy to come by because it is only being told by those who are often not being heard: local indigenous communities, people trying to protect them and even nature itself.

Bettercoal? Not at all! In Columbia, which is the number one coal supplier for German power plants, shocking misdoings have been taking place for years already: The range from river deviations that lead to the slogan “Without gold, we live. Without coal, we live. Without water, we die.” to forced relocations of entire communes. Even murderers of trade union officials that are connected to the biggest coal miner in Colombia (Drummond, USA) still leave out many horrendous details.

Bettercoal? Not at all! Three of the four big German power producers are members of the bettercoal initiative and refer to it in their statements concerning the circumstances of the origin of the coal for their power plants. The aforementioned circumstances are known due to the engagement of individuals and NGOs bringing them to light.

So did urgewald from Münster. They showed what's behind the coal certified by the bettercoal initiative.